China's BYD takes on Japanese rivals with small 'kei' car

Chinese giant BYD launched an electric "kei" car in Japan on Tuesday with an ad campaign featuring a top actor, taking on local rivals whose own pint-sized vehicles rule the road.

Ideal for Japan's often narrow roads, the super-compact category of cars up to 1.4 metres (4.9 feet) wide and 3.4 metres long accounts for some 40 percent of new vehicle sales there.

BYD, which is also making major inroads in Europe and which overtook Tesla in 2025 as the world's biggest seller of EVs, said the Racco is the first "kei" car launched in Japan by an overseas automaker.

The car has a height of 180 centimetres and is priced from 2.1 million yen ($12,830).

To help market it, BYD has hired one of Japan's best-known actors, Alice Hirose, for its advertisements.

"We want to deliver unprecedented convenience and enjoyment to all people across Japan through our technology," BYD Japan president Liu Xueliang said at a launch event in Tokyo.

Foreign automakers have traditionally struggled to gain much market share in Japan, including BYD.

The Chinese carmaker has established 77 sales locations across Japan, according to Bloomberg News.

"Kei" cars -- "kei-jidosha" ("light vehicle") in Japanese -- have a cult following. Admirers include US President Donald Trump, who told US firms in December to "START BUILDING THEM NOW!"